A lazy photographer. Guido Calamosca's first solo exhibition in Senigallia.

From July 27 to Oct. 8, 2023, Palazzetto Baviera in Senigallia will host the first solo exhibition of photographer Guido Calamosca (Senigallia, 1981). Entitled A Lazy Photographer and curated by Giorgia Olivieri, the exhibition is produced by the City of Senigallia as part of Senigallia City of Photography, an initiative promoted by the Marche Region with the aim of enhancing local talent.

Divided into five sections, the exhibition offers an overview of Calamosca’s artistic vision. With an anthropological gaze, Guido Calamosca captures in his work the essence of places and people by bringing to the surface those details that would otherwise remain submerged as victims of hasty glances. His photographs, although taken digitally, are the result of thoughtful and genuinely curious work.

The exhibition opens with the Pomp & Pageantry section: this is work that began in 2011 with Prince William’s royal wedding, continued with his brother Harry’s wedding, and concluded with the coronation of King Charles III. Despite what one might think, the subject of the investigation is not so much the royal family but the British people’s enchantment with the monarchy. A reflection on an almost unbreakable bond that is both magical and mysterious. The second section is entitled Proxemics and is devoted to the theme of tourists. How does a tourist move on vacation? This is the question Calamosca asks himself with his camera. With a slow and distracted pace, the tourist experiences the space he visits in the measure of a shot. His is a circle traced with a compass whose tip is the smartphone and the radius (of action) the arm. An amusing and entertaining reportage, devoid of snobbery, which tells about a recent and widespread phenomenon. From which no one is immune.

In the third section, [fiè-ra], Calamosca investigates trade fairs, a parallel universe to be looked at with a curious eye. The result of what can be called a “hunt” are images collected in diptychs that find meaning through unexpected and never mundane juxtapositions. A picturesque fauna populates an undergrowth in which everyone moves among the stands with rapacity. Like ancient fairs precisely, photographer included.

Then there is a section devoted to Portraits: a review of shots of directors, actors, artists, captured on the fly among people, never face to face. Press conferences, meetings with artists, master classes-these are the places where these faces are immersed. Perhaps it is precisely the unsurprising context that makes the expression of such celebrities more alive and human than ever before. Finally, the conclusion belongs to Diapo: an old-fashioned slideshow shows “discarded” images of individual projects alongside series not covered in the exhibition. A way to ease the sorrow of having kept photographs in the drawer.

“It is Guido Calamosca himself who calls himself a ’lazy photographer,’” writes curator Giorgia Olivieri. For him, laziness, rather than a capital vice, is a condition close to the Latinotium, a space in which creativity is born. His is in fact an analog mode of working, slow. Silent is he in his daily life, silent is the camera from which discharges of clicks never depart. His character and training in theater make him measured, never greedy for images. Indeed, he is far from voracious, never anxious to miss the right moment. His being selective borders on snobbery. But when you have the privilege of standing next to him as he shoots, you realize that he is always right in the end. When we move in pairs, the horizon is often the same, but Guido always manages to notice a hidden vantage point, a detail that doesn’t make a sound but screams when the photo comes to light. Woe betide, however, to call him talented. Showing the proverbial character of the Marchesan that if you pay him a compliment he almost takes offense, he grudgingly tolerates overt praise. So here we discomfort the adjective ’lazy’ so he is happy. As you will see from these photographs, what for many is a flaw, in his case becomes a snap."

The exhibition is produced by the City of Senigallia as part of the Senigallia City of Photography project with the support of the Marche Region, is sponsored by AIRF-Italian Association of Photographic Reporters and supported by Elenfant Film.

Image: Guido Calamosca, Pomp & Pageantry, London 2011

A lazy photographer. Guido Calamosca's first solo exhibition in Senigallia.

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